The National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlement said that the Israeli occupation army is redeploying its forces and strengthening its intelligence and technological capabilities in the West Bank to secure settlers in the new settlements.The office added in its weekly settlement report issued on Saturday that the settlement wheel moved at a record speed last year, with the planning and construction of about 28,136 settlement units, the latest of which were 1,033 units in the settlements of “Asfar”, “Yitzhar”, and “Sanur”.He explained that the occupation authorities approved the recognition of a number of pastoral farms, the most dangerous of which was the recognition of the settlement farm “Har Bezek”, which is built on the lands of the town of Raba, southeast of Jenin, in a strategic location on “Mount Salma”, at a height of 713 meters above sea level.He pointed out that this site was transformed from a pastoral outpost into an officially recognized settlement in record time, in less than a month, bypassing the usual procedures that used to take months, and even years, to complete the settlement process.He noted that this acceleration in imposing new settlement facts on the ground requires security to enforce control.He explained that the occupation army is currently operating in the West Bank through 21 field battalions, and two regular battalions, strong and equipped with combat equipment, are scheduled to be transferred within approximately two weeks from “Givatayim” and “Makfir” to operate in the West Bank.The report stated that the occupation army is pushing to reorganize its deployment and expand its military presence, with all that this entails in terms of paving new roads, establishing military sites, and increasing the number of entities dedicated to the tasks of “securing and protecting” the settlers, especially after the recent approval of the establishment of 21 settlements, including the “Sanur” settlement, which was evacuated in 2005 from the northern West Bank, in addition to 19 other settlements that are still in the planning stages.He pointed out that the area extending from the vicinity of the “Kedumim” settlement in the Qalqilya Governorate in the north, up to the small remaining settlement enclave in the northwestern corner of the West Bank, which was closed to Israelis and in which only a limited number of settlements remained, including: “Mevo Dotan” and “Reihan”, has become, in light of these developments, in dire need of field security to be undertaken by the occupation army.She pointed out that these moves come in the context of what the report described as a “quiet settlement revolution,” attributed to the growing role of Finance Minister and Minister for Settlement Affairs in the Ministry of Defense, Bezalel Smotrich, in managing the affairs of the West Bank.The report stated that the occupation army is strengthening its intelligence and technological capabilities in the northern West Bank, including observation towers, radars, and means of communication, in addition to changes in military deployment patterns, after the number of settlements established within its control doubled during the last three years, reaching nearly 40 settlements and outposts. West Bank settlement
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